Legal Stuff

Forensic Science Laboratory

The Kerala Police has established a well equipped Forensic Science Laboratory in Police Headquarters campus since 1961. The HQ Lab at Thiruvananthapuram has 11 divisions such as Ballistics, Biology, Serology, Chemistry, Explosives, DNA, Documents, Cyber Forensics, Documents -Civil, Physics and Polygraph. Two Regional FSL’s were established in Kannur and Thrissur in the year 2004 & 2007. The Regional FSL’s at Kannur and Thrissur have Physics, Documents, Biology & Chemistry divisions. In order to ensure speedy and effective Crime Scene Examination and to ensure proper and correct evaluation of clue materials from the scene of crime, we had set up District Mobile Forensic Lab (DMFL) with a Scientific Assistant in Police Districts. There are 17 District Mobile Forensic Lab attached to District Crime Records Bureau (DCRB). The examination of material objects forwarded by Courts and other Investigating agencies are carried out in the Lab and examination reports are forwarded. The role of forensic expert includes crime scene examination, laboratory examination of physical evidences and later as an expert witness in the court of law. Realizing the need and importance for providing accurate forensic report, the Department had acquired all latest equipment for case examination under various Police Modernisation schemes.

Director is the head of the Laboratory and Dr. K. P. Jayakumar is the present Director since 01.04.2010. There are two Joint Directors to assist the Director. Each division of FSL is headed by an Assistant Director, supported by Scientific Assistant. The HQ Lab has set up the state-of-the -art DNA Lab and Cyber Forensic Lab to meet the latest challenges in the field of forensic investigation. The polygraph examination of persons are routinely carried out in accordance with the NHRC guidelines.

The Biology division of FSL undertakes mainly the examination of saliva, semen and other body fluids. Hairs, fibres, plant materials, diatoms are also examined here. The skull superimposition as to ascertain whether the skull actually belongs to the person
in the photograph is also done in this division. Computerised skull
superimposition system, Fluorescent microscope and Forensic image
analyzer are the main equipment available.

The Explosive division of FSL is equipped for the examination of remnants, residues and components of explosives to determine the nature, composition, damage potential etc. The division is equipped with High Precision Thin Layer chromatograph (HPTLC), High Pressure
Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC), U.V Spectrophotometer etc.

The Document division undertake the examination of disputed handwritings and signatures, detection of erasures, alterations, additions, examination of typewriting, printed matters and seal impressions etc and also the examination of counterfeit
currency and forged dollars. The VSC-5000, ESDA and Zoom Stereo
microscope are the main equipments.

A Cyber Forensic division has been started to extract information and data from computer and other storage media. The cyber lab is equipped with tools such as FRED, FREDDY, Talon, Cellebrite, Cell Deck and other hardwares and softwares for the analysis of digital data for the analysis of Hard discs, pen drives, mobile phones, iphones, ipads etc. The analysis of SIM cards, Memory cards and mobile phones provide valuable information to solve many crimes.